Nutrition

The ‘Nutrient requirements tables for Nutrition EDGE manuals’ project derived estimates of metabolisable energy and protein requirements, and the relationship between intake and digestibility, for inclusion in a revised version of the northern beef training package, Nutrition EDGE, to bring them into line with the Australian feeding standards.

The ‘Causal factors affecting liveweight gain in north Australian beef herds’ project measured factors that affect within-herd variation in weight gain in extensive Northern Territory beef herds. The factors included genetics, diseases, parasites, temperament and diet selection. It also analysed historical data sets and pen studies.

The ‘Managing the detrimental effects of indospicine through rumen metabolism’ project aims to deliver a rumen inoculum to mitigate the detrimental effects of the plant toxin indospicine on cattle.

Key messages: Seek professional advice in both the diagnosis and correction of deficiencies. Determine the benefits and costs in your situation. Both deficiencies and excess can cause problems.…
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Hay and silage quality is impacted greatly by stage of maturity. As forage crops mature fibre increases while digestibility and crude protein decreases. A basic nutrient analysis will…
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Information on energy requirements of beef cattle and how to correct energy shortfalls can be obtained from attending a Nutrition EDGE workshop.

When deciding on a supplement strategy, it is important to determine the cost of the supplement in relation to the nutrient you require. In some cases, the supplement…
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Key messages Typically, if cattle have reduced growth during the dry season because of low quality and low availability of pasture, then during the following wet season, or…
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An explanation of what Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS), specifically Faecal Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (F.NIRS), is and how you can use it to assess the diet quality of the pasture your cattle are eating.

Rules of thumb for estimating the water requirements of different classes and breeds of beef cattle, feed type, impacts of water quality and water sampling.